Hi all,
Doing my first mix (to be released), I'm feeling I'm missing the "surgical" part of EQ'ing. I almost never do it, not knowing what I should try to achieve. I often see videos of people doing it and using terms like "boxiness" and many others which I don't quite understand. I sense that it is a bit of a subject of it's own, and something that people learn by experience (which I don't have at this moment!) Can anyone recommend a good read about this? (Maybe even a book)
I use pultec style EQ's and understand them well enough to benefit from them.

There is one area of the spectrum that many agree that you can get a bit of a build up and that is around 300Hz.  So in a final mix or more to the point in mastering it can be very effective sometimes to introduce a dip around 300Hz. Not too deep maybe 2-4dB Max and not too wide either from around 200 to 400 Hz in bandwidth.
 
What often happens here is when you do this the mix just suddenly sounds clearer and better.
 
In Harrison Mixbus for example on the master buss there is one of the EQ controls centered right on that frequency just like in a real Harrison console.
 
If you are a Pultec EQ man then you can easily get it there as well. I use the Nomad Factory Pulse-Tec EQ and it also does a fab job of clearing up this area as well. Just look at the very top section of the EQ. Set the DIP switch to 300 and then turn up the rotary control just to the right of that. You are now inserting a Dip in the response right around 300 and it will sound perfect as soon as you move this control.
 
If you have got a great mix this maybe only the one area you need to alter slightly. The rest is about bottom end, mid range punch and then highs or air. If needed that is.  If the mix is great most of those areas should be under control and not need major tweaking.  If they do then going back to your mix might be a good idea.

Jeff Evans gave you a great answer.  He definitely knows his stuff.  Before you can reduce "boxiness", I guess you need to define it first.  To me it's that muddy sound that builds up right around 300 hz like Jeff said.  If you want to locate it (or any other annoying frequency) more specifically then you can use a parametric eq, boost the gain about 3-4 db then start sweeping the frequencies with it (to sweep you just start at the lowest frequency and drag the eq progressively higher).  As soon as you hit the problem frequency it should jump right.  Then CUT that frequency by a few db and your mix should clear up.
I hope this helps you. 
For a good overall read on mixing that touches on eq and a ton of other subjects I would recommend "Mixing Secrets for the Small Studio" by Mike Senior.

jude77
Jeff Evans gave you a great answer.  He definitely knows his stuff.  Before you can reduce "boxiness", I guess you need to define it first.  To me it's that muddy sound that builds up right around 300 hz like Jeff said.  If you want to locate it (or any other annoying frequency) more specifically then you can use a parametric eq, boost the gain about 3-4 db then start sweeping the frequencies with it (to sweep you just start at the lowest frequency and drag the eq progressively higher).  As soon as you hit the problem frequency it should jump right.  Then CUT that frequency by a few db and your mix should clear up.
I hope this helps you. 
For a good overall read on mixing that touches on eq and a ton of other subjects I would recommend "Mixing Secrets for the Small Studio" by Mike Senior.

Thanks, I'll look into that :-)

I have no answer to your request for reading material on EQ, because I've not found any text that does a good job of it.
 
The reason for that is it's a surprisingly complex topic. It feels as though it should be simple, but that turns out not to be the case. Sure, there are a few widely-accepted practices, such as avoiding mud-range build-up and rolling off the low bass. But for every rule of thumb there are a dozen exceptions or "it depends" and special-case scenarios. Turns out, every mix is a little different.
 
Your best bet is the long road: acquiring a fundamental understanding of frequency, harmonics, summing, masking, and the limits of human auditory perception. Example: if you have a muddy mix, why can't you just throw an EQ onto the master bus and attenuate the lower mids? Everybody tries that, and everybody figures out that it doesn't work. It doesn't work because your ears don't work that way, but you'd probably not come to that conclusion by following cookbook approaches to EQ and mixing.
 
If I was starting over from scratch, but somehow knew in advance what I'd need, I'd begin by studying the physics of sound, the human auditory system and psychoacoustics. You won't find these topics in the "Music" section, but they are the foundation of the mixing arts.
 
Another unexpected but beneficial tangent is the study of perceptual encoding, because it leverages the limitations of human hearing to reduce file sizes by eliminating things you can't hear. Knowing what you can't hear and why is a big deal in mixing. Acoustics, there's another ancillary topic that also ties in neatly, because it deals with how humans interact with their sonic environment and how they sense sound. Another less-than-fun exercise involves ear training, e.g. learning to identify frequencies by ear. 
 
These fields of study may seem tangential to mixing, but are in fact fundamental to it. A great mixer needn't have necessarily read the textbooks, as many great mixers have figured this stuff out through experience. But either way, it's stuff you have to eventually figure out, so instead of waiting 20 years why not take a shortcut?
 
Here are some titles that won't teach you how to EQ, but will make you a better mixer:
 
Mixing Audio by Roey Izhaki


On the Sensations of Tone by Hermann Helmholtz


Sound Reproduction: The Acoustics and Psychoacoustics of Loudspeakers and Rooms by Floyd Toole


Master Handbook of Acoustics by F. Alton Everest


Digital Audio Explained for the Audio Engineer by Nika Aldrich


Zen and the Art of Mixing by Mixerman
 
This is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession by Daniel J. Levitin
 
 
 

+ about a million on the Izhaki book.  Add to that Mike Senior's book:
 
https://smile.amazon.com/Mixing-Secrets-Small-Studio-Senior/dp/0240815807/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1467232140&sr=1-1&keywords=mixing+secrets+for+the+small+studio

bitflipper
I have no answer to your request for reading material on EQ, because I've not found any text that does a good job of it.
 
The reason for that is it's a surprisingly complex topic. It feels as though it should be simple, but that turns out not to be the case. Sure, there are a few widely-accepted practices, such as avoiding mud-range build-up and rolling off the low bass. But for every rule of thumb there are a dozen exceptions or "it depends" and special-case scenarios. Turns out, every mix is a little different.
 
Your best bet is the long road: acquiring a fundamental understanding of frequency, harmonics, summing, masking, and the limits of human auditory perception. Example: if you have a muddy mix, why can't you just throw an EQ onto the master bus and attenuate the lower mids? Everybody tries that, and everybody figures out that it doesn't work. It doesn't work because your ears don't work that way, but you'd probably not come to that conclusion by following cookbook approaches to EQ and mixing.
 
If I was starting over from scratch, but somehow knew in advance what I'd need, I'd begin by studying the physics of sound, the human auditory system and psychoacoustics. You won't find these topics in the "Music" section, but they are the foundation of the mixing arts.
 
Another unexpected but beneficial tangent is the study of perceptual encoding, because it leverages the limitations of human hearing to reduce file sizes by eliminating things you can't hear. Knowing what you can't hear and why is a big deal in mixing. Acoustics, there's another ancillary topic that also ties in neatly, because it deals with how humans interact with their sonic environment and how they sense sound. Another less-than-fun exercise involves ear training, e.g. learning to identify frequencies by ear. 
 
These fields of study may seem tangential to mixing, but are in fact fundamental to it. A great mixer needn't have necessarily read the textbooks, as many great mixers have figured this stuff out through experience. But either way, it's stuff you have to eventually figure out, so instead of waiting 20 years why not take a shortcut?
 
Here are some titles that won't teach you how to EQ, but will make you a better mixer:
 
Mixing Audio by Roey Izhaki


On the Sensations of Tone by Hermann Helmholtz


Sound Reproduction: The Acoustics and Psychoacoustics of Loudspeakers and Rooms by Floyd Toole


Master Handbook of Acoustics by F. Alton Everest


Digital Audio Explained for the Audio Engineer by Nika Aldrich


Zen and the Art of Mixing by Mixerman
 
This is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession by Daniel J. Levitin
 
 
 

Thanks for the reply and the links - much appreciated. These forums are blessings for us with no studio time/experience. Right now I'm tempted to buy both Mixing Audio and Mixing Secrets for the Small Studio.

pilutiful
Thanks for the reply and the links - much appreciated. These forums are blessings for us with no studio time/experience. Right now I'm tempted to buy both Mixing Audio and Mixing Secrets for the Small Studio.

Good choices.  I would suggest reading the Senior book first - it's a bit easier going.  Then read the Izhaki book.  Plan to come back a year later and read it again.